Soft Matter Blog

The question of ‘active’ or ‘passive’ mechanisms for red blood cell flickering (or vibratory motion), currently under debate, is investigated in a recent publication.

Red blood cells (erythrocytes) are a useful model for understanding cell mechanics. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have recently examined the response of erythrocytes to external stress with the help of optical traps and high-speed video imaging.

Read this Soft Matter article for free until 15 Feb, 2011 here!

Young Zoon Yoon, Jurij Kotar, Aidan T. Brown and Pietro Cicuta, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM01117G, (Advance Article).

To help develop metal binding molecules for nanoscale electronics, sensors, and biomedical devices, a team based in the USA has investigated the adsorption of amino acids and surfactants onto a gold surface. Using molecular dynamics simulations, the team investigated the mechanism and strength of the interactions. They say that the adsorption strength correlates with the degree of coordination of polarizable atoms (O, N, C) to multiple epitaxial sites, and therefore, the molecular size and geometry rather than the specific chemistry determine the adsorption energy.

Fancy knowing more? Read the article for free until 15th February 2011. 

Jie Feng, Ras B. Pandey, Rajiv J. Berry, Barry L. Farmer, Rajesh R. Naik and Hendrik Heinz, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM01118E (Advance Article)

The crystallization behavior of colloidal cubes has been studied using tunable depletion interactions by a team at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and New York University, USA. The team found that under certain conditions the cubes self-organize into crystals with a simple cubic symmetry, which is set by the size of the depletant.

Read the article for free until the 14th February: Laura Rossi, Stefano Sacanna, William T. M. Irvine, Paul M. Chaikin, David J. Pine and Albert P. Philipse, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM01246G (Advance Article)

Whether the extended law of corresponding states can be applied to equilibrium and non equilibrium features of the state diagram of a globular protein has been investigated by a team based in Switzerland and Sweden. The team say that for the globular protein lysozyme, the binodal and spinodal lines are governed by the integral features of the interaction potential, but the arrest line is mainly determined by the contact value.

Read the full paper (free until 9th February) here: Thomas Gibaud, Frédéric Cardinaux, Johan Bergenholtz, Anna Stradner and Peter Schurtenberger, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C0SM01175D (Advance Article)

Wolfgang Meier discusses the emerging area of solid-supported polymeric membranes. Fancy knowing more? Read the full article for free until 8th February.

Serena Belegrinou, Sindhu Menon, Dominik Dobrunz and Wolfgang Meier, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM01163K  (Advance Article)

A team of scientists have shown that equilibrium phase diagrams can predict the outcome of polymerization reactions in surfactant systems. The team from Lund University, Sweden and Coimbra University, Portugal, claim that the general trends that should also be relevant for more complex systems. 

 
Read the full article for free here: Salomé dos Santos, Lennart Piculell, Ola J. Karlsson and Maria da Graça Miguel, Soft Matter, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0SM00958J (Advance Article)